"That idiot is an idiot."

QUOTE ATTRIBUTED TO IDAHO HOUSE SPEAKER IN REFERENCE TO IDAHO STATE SENATOR BILL SALI
Here's a fun and scary glimpse into the abyss:

But why is Madison County so overwhelmingly conservative?
"There's more Mormons here, and they're better educated," he says. "We have a very high education level in this town, a very high income level in this town. Now, that equates with being conservatives. We're fiscally aware of where the money comes from, and that it doesn't grow on the great tree in Washington. We don't have any welfare state in this area at all. We don’t have blacks in this area to speak of. We've had them, and they've come and gone. Not to say they were driven out; they've just felt uncomfortable because there aren't enough of them -- like you and me moving to Montgomery, Alabama."

The salon article this comes from ("The Reddest Place in America" by Tim Grieve) is condescending to the sources. I don't know this writer, he may be new to Salon. The quotes come too late in article — the intro is too heavy on the factoids, which should be spread throughout the story. There's a lot of paraphrasing of quotes when it sounds like the author may be restating or attributing his own bias.

Nonetheless it's a good piece and there are nice quotes (such as this very diplomatic one: "The climate surrounding faithful membership in this organization is not always conducive to challenging authority.")

On the menu

Hawawshi, which is basically just hamburger, fried in pan. The extreme amount of grease and fond is then combined with dijon mustard, white vinegar, soy sause and sesame oil. Consumed over rice with white cheese.

The sauce was tasty. I want to try it over rice noodles with toasted sesame seeds.

Rama lama ding dong

It's the last day of Ramadan, which is traditionally celebrated by getting blitzed and wandering around with explosives.

Me, I have to work.

I do get a 5 day weekend, though, so I'm off to Alexandria. The last time I was there during an Eid vacation the city was sick with kids off the asshole variety. It probably won't be any different this time. Beer and clams should mitigate.

El progreso de mi calvicie

After my haircut the barber held up a mirror to show me the back. He pointed to my baldspot and said "Not me!" — not my fault.

I said "I know, it's my Dad's fault."

Luminous beings are we!

Not this crude matter.

Pokey pokey

Saw this kid poking a dead kitten with a stick today. He was like 6 or so. I clicked my tongue at him and waved my hand in a disapproving gesture. He stopped, I'm sure only temporarily. If I had my druthers I'd have taken care of the cat, bagged it and trashed it. I have no druthers.

I Don't Heart Insomnia

I took off work the other day because of a series of symptoms I defined as "feeling shitastic." I think it's just exhaustion, and I hope it's not the onset of depression. I think if it is I can fight it. I'm not sixteen anymore.

Up late after having drunk too much coffee. Had to finish a whosamawhatchit for the magazine and I kept leaving my notes in the wrong places and giving up on the work. Exhaustion or depression?

A group of I assume kids just came walking through my street howling like dogs. The actual dogs that live up the street responded appropriately. It's 3:43 am as I write this.

I watched I Heart Huckabees and half the director's commentary. I like the commentary a lot. I like that the director (Whatshisfuck) seems to be just as earnestly engaged in these existential, philosophical debates as his characters. It's such a charming movie — the premise, the characters, the music, the imagery. All I can think when I see a movie like that is "I wish I had made it. And now I can't, because someone else did."

Whatshisfuck's exuberant identification with Marky Mark's character's petroleum fixation ("and these are the facts!") is a little disappointing. I guess I wish writers would take more care not to just make their characters believe the exact things they believe. Not that I disagree with much of what Marky Mark says in the movie or anything, but I do object to his bullish attitude, which I've seen all too much in myself and my associates, and to his logical leaps — again which I'm very familiar with. "And these are the facts!" Whatshisfuck the director doesn't seem to be particularly self-critical here, and I'm glad it doesn't come through in the film. Maybe Marky Mark figured it out.

I like watching commentaries for good movies — there's always stuff you didn't realize was going on, but which still have an effect on your viewing experience. In the opening sequence of the film Albert is wandering through a maze-like office corridor. Eventually he sees a figure ahead of him turning the corner, and he rushes to catch up. The director saw this as Albert's double — he's chasing himself. I remember on first seeing the film thinking as soon as I saw the guy up ahead, "hurry! Catch up – that guy's going where you need to go."

Good filmmaking.

There's a cat in heat outside. I give it about 15 minutes before the neighbors throw water on it.

I'm gonna try sleeping again. Seems like the thing to do.

I = boring

Turns out my life is all boring and shit.

Spent the long weekend playing video games and watching Buffy season 6.

Season 6 is very disappointing towards the end. They get carried away with metaphors and forget to actually develop characters.

I = dumb

I just lost out on a one-day trip ("junket" they call it) to Barcelona to test drive cars because my driver's license is expired.

So it's my birthday today. Or it was 27 years ago. I'm cooking iftar (the meal to break the Ramadan fast) for some friends and whatnot, and had been wondering what I would cook as the meal itself.

My friend Adam was walking down the street yesterday and a car pulled up and handed him a big bag of raw meat.

Problem solved.

Apparently if you have a kid you're supposed to slaughter an animal and distribute the meat to folks on the street.